Hear! Hear! Doris, thank you for summing it up for me! I live in Florida and would love to be able to spend the day in the library in Connecticut or New York, but cannot because of some of the reasons you cited, including disablilites. Marianne in Florida Up2Nutrix@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 06/03/2001 7:51:31 PM Mountain Daylight Time, > allenk@pacbell.net writes: > > > I am an old hand at genealogy starting in the late '60s, back when it > > was pencil and paper, or occasionally, typewriter. There were "name > > collectors", but most of us worked hard doing research in original > > records, after we had done the literary survey, so we didn't reinvewnt > > the wheel. > > > > > > Could I please present another point of view? Many of us would enjoy having > the resources to do what the writer of this note has been able to do: > tramping through cemeteries in the rain; sitting in the library or other > archives for hours on end; purchasing books and subscriptions by the carload. > But there are plenty of good reasons for not doing all those things. > > For some people, it's the lack of financial resources. Job insecurity, heavy > financial responsibilities, and fixed or declining income are a few of the > situations that can severely limit a person's available money. And while that > "$5 Rand-McNally atlas" probably won't break most of us, it's no help for > past geography. For example, you could tear a New Jersey map apart looking > for German Valley, where some of my relatives lived, but you'll never find > it. During World War I the name was changed to Long Valley, and if someone > isn't aware of that change, he'll be "up a creek" looking for his family. > > Along with finances is the resource of time. It's nice to be able to sit down > in your library's genealogy section for an entire day and look for what you > need, but that amount of time just might not be available to you. Maybe you > have a job that keeps you occupied when the library is open. Maybe you have > the responsibility of caring for small children, elderly parents, or > handicapped relatives -- or maybe all three! Maybe a personal disability > means that your normal activities take twice as long as they would for a > "normal" person. > > And then there's distance. Many of us live a thousand or more miles from > where our families came from, and time and finances keep us from traveling > that distance to check out things "on scene." > > While the person who wrote the original letter here says she isn't referring > to any specific person, she quoted my note on the business of "not having > access" to something. Lack of access can be for many different reasons. . > .and in my case it's complicated. Thirty years ago my husband, not having a > crystal ball, picked an occupation that was made obsolete during the > high-tech revolution of the 90s. As a result, he's been either out of work or > forced into low-paying or temporary positions for most of the last five > years. I've had to work a lot more that I would have liked to in order to > keep our retirement savings (which we'll need in a few years) from melting > away entirely. On top of that, a family emergency two years ago swallowed up > a large percentage of the money we'd saved. And to put the cap on it, a > hereditary neurological disorder that I managed to acquire with my genetic > code means that my normal housework takes me twice as long as it would > without it. A few hours of some "nonessential" activity leaves me wondering > which necessary job doesn't get done. Shopping? Cleaning? Laundry? Thanks to > my husband's job instability, we haven't had a vacation in nearly five years, > so the few free weekends we get need to be used for "mini-vacations" camping > and hiking in the mountains rather than spending the day in the library. It's > all a matter of priorities, and I consider spending time with my living > family and providing for them (and making sure that we're not a burden to our > kids in our rapidly-arriving old age) a greater priority than getting the > most detailed and accurate numbers possible on my long-dead relatives. > > Believe it or not, I'm not into genealogy. What I'm interested in is family > history. I want to leave a legacy for our kids and grandkids: where did they > come from? How did their forebears get here -- and why? What suffering did > they go through in order to make this country what it is? How did they fit > into the scheme of history (the Revolution; the Great Migration; the Thirty > Years War; the Irish Potato Famine; Bannockburn; the Boyne)? When did they > leave the Church of Rome. . .during the Protestant Reformation, or later? > That's my real goal in all this, not agonizing over whether a date I have > recorded is a birth date or in fact a baptism date. > > A parallel from a different discipline: when my husband and I are camping and > hiking, I like to record what we've seen and done on film. I've gotten some > strikingly beautiful photographs, including a few that several years ago made > all but the final cut in a national travel magazine's annual photo contest > (out of nearly 20,000 entries). I use them on calendars, family newsletters, > and greeting cards; and I've even managed to sell a few. But because I use > print film rather than slide film and because I don't carry a tripod large > and heavy enough to kill a grizzly bear or lenses that look like small > cannons, some purists say that I'm not "really" an outdoor photographer. . > .I'm just a "dabbler." I don't have the money to purchase that expensive > equipment, nor would I if I did, since it's heavy and detracts from the fun > of hiking in the outdoors. But what I do suits my purpose just fine, and it's > as valid as what those other people are doing. > > For most of my family history, I've been forced by the lack of the resources > I mentioned earlier to depend on the research of others for what I've > learned. I've tried to "pay it forward" by passing on to others what I've > been able to learn and hence return something of what I've gained. > Fortunately many people have been very helpful: photocopying TAG or other > articles and mailing them to me (and usually refusing the payment I've > offered); offering to do lookups for me at Salt Lake City or at local > libraries; sending me GEDCOMs of what they'd been able to learn; politely > (and I emphasize the word "politely") correcting (rather than challenging) my > data when I'd been given some incorrect information. Unfortunately there have > been a few of the other kind of people, who seemed to feel that they'd worked > hard and spent loads of cash for their data and that I should be obligated to > do the same. But those people have been few and far between. And over the > past few years I've met all sorts of wonderful people online whom I'm proud > to call my friends. . .and in some cases, my family. I've found two long-lost > close cousins through one of those "darnable CD systems" and several more on > RootsWeb lists. > > I think that we need to be careful not to restrict family research to being a > luxury item for those with lots of money and time, like yacht racing and > polo. After all, this is history we're dealing with, and we shouldn't > minimize the interest and efforts of folks who are doing the best they can > with the little they have to provide a history for those who come after. We > can end up discouraging people not only by withholding information but also > by belittling them as "dabblers" or "name collectors" -- two terms that I > will admit to hating royally. Most of us aren't just trying to collect names > in order to make a big, impressive list; we're trying to put "flesh" on those > names by learning something about them. Every time I read the story of the > Pilgrims at Thanksgiving, I end up choking up; two of my own forebears died > in the General Sickness that first year, and one of my husband's helped to > contribute to the lean time they all had the second year. The Irish potato > famine hits home; my Irish great-grandmother almost certainly came over on > that account. Stories of Indian massacres in the period prior to the French > and Indian War remind me of those of my husband's family who were killed that > way and of the one who was carried off to St. Francis by Abenaki Indians. . > .and of the woman who died only weeks after her husband was killed by Indians > at Deerfield, Massachusetts -- probably of depression. This is all > information that I picked up thanks to the generosity of others who willingly > shared what they'd learned with me and didn't condemn me as either a > "dabbler" or a "name collector." > > I've had my "soap box" time now -- thanx for your patience. . . > > Doris in Colorado (Up2Nutrix@aol.com) > "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." -- > Jim Elliot, missionary and martyr > > ============================== > Shop Ancestry - Everything you need to Discover, Preserve & Celebrate > your heritage! > http://shop.myfamily.com/ancestrycatalog